BIEN magazine

Team TMN sit down with Sherry Tenorio, Editor of BIEN, to get the low down on what to expect from Imperial Publishing’s hotly anticipated beauty publication that hits shelves next month…

What is the concept behind BIEN?
The concept is very simple – it is a beauty magazine that allows readers to understand beauty products and solutions, while at the same time entertaining them with fashion, travel and lifestyle features. It educates the readers about the products and services available for them to refine, enhance and project their individuality. It cuts across nationalities, ages and cultural sensibilities as well as gender (the magazine will have a dedicated section for men).

What made you decide to launch bien.ae first?
We decided to launch the magazine´s fast media since it would pave the way to gathering interaction and interest among our target readers as well as potential clients and partners. Also, the website allows us to present the look, feel and tone of the magazine. We believe that the online and social media channels will strongly complement the print publication.

What will the platform offer that is different from the print publication?
The website is different in the sense that we update the features daily, so we can cover announcements, events and reviews the moment we receive the news. The magazine on the other hand will have more in-depth stories and comprehensive articles focused on timely and essential topics related mostly to beauty, health, wellness, fitness, a bit of fashion, travel and lifestyle.

What differentiates the website further is the level of interaction the readers will get through it. We plan to roll out a review program wherein the readers get samples of the beauty products about to launch or recently launched in the market and then write about them, enabling the readers to receive more samples to try. This is an excellent marketing research opportunity for beauty products and services that aim to promote as well as understand their markets better. So instead of stopping people in the malls to try the product and eventually make them buy the product, we hope that bien.ae will be able to support the brands by providing the sampling opportunities through the website.

Who is BIEN’s target audience?
BIEN will mainly attract women from the range of 18 to 45 years old, who know the importance of self-development in achieving their goals in life. They are working women who know the power of personal grooming and work value. They are the achievers on top of their game, who are continuously on the move and yet know how to squeeze in ´me-time´ in order to keep and maintain balanced wellbeing. They are the mothers who stay at home, but clearly remember the importance of self-image. They are women, of different ages, unique qualities, of different backgrounds, bound by the innate need to be their most beautiful selves.

How will BIEN stand out in the publication market?
There are fashion and lifestyle magazines that have dedicated beauty sections. There are beauty magazines that are targeted to the industry professionals. There are beauty magazines for consumers in Arabic, but there´s no single English language magazine that talks to the consumers directly about beauty. This is where BIEN steps in, stands out and fills the gap in the market.

Will you be working with a dedicated editorial team, or are there opportunities for freelancers?
There is an editorial team working on the magazine but we’re open to working with freelancers as well as collaborations with leading beauty bloggers in the region.

How can PRs get involved?
We welcome updates from PR agencies. The materials they send are essential to ease our research for editorial features and we are also open to working with them through PR activation campaigns.

Are there any advertising opportunities?
Definitely. We currently have a wonderful marketing program that provides advertisers maximum exposure on all our media channels and allows value for investment.

Are there any future plans for BIEN once launched?
Yes. We wish to venture into live marketing activations and event promotions, but we’ll keep everyone posted as we go along. As of now, we’re focused on our beautiful babies, the website and the magazine.